Drone Weapon
Drone weapons, known more colloquially as drones, are projectile weapons that serve as the primary weapon system of the Ancients. Overview A hybrid energy/projectile weapon, drones are capable of penetrating most shields and armor with ease. A single drone can destroy most fighters and cause severe damage to smaller capital ships, while hundreds or thousands can obliterate dozens of vessels with little effort. Using an internal sensor for guidance and a powerful energy barrier for defense, a drone can penetrate or even bypass all but the most powerful shields and burrow through thick armor with ease while avoiding attempts to shoot them down and avoiding allied targets. When active, a drone emits a high-temperature energy field capable of burning through nearly all forms of conventional matter, as well as allowing it to punch through energy shielding with ease. This not only renders a drone capable of causing severe damage in a single strike, but allows it to make multiple attack runs on a single target before running out of energy. Drones are precision weapons, designed to cause massive damage to small targets without destroying anything around them. This makes them ideal as anti-fighter or anti-ship weapons, but less effective as ground-suppression weapons, despite their low collateral damage. Drones are usually deployed using a Control chair, which can command thousands of them at once. Drones are capable of self-guidance, but the chair also allows for direct control. When attacking in a large group, drones use swarming tactics to maximize damage, surrounding and assaulting a target from all directions. Any drones still active after the attack has been completed will return to storage for later use. Drones are among the most powerful weapons in existence. They can pass through Goa'uld shields with ease and punch through the organic armor of Wraith Hive ships without being destroyed. In an alternate reality, it was stated that an Ori warship was driven off by drone weapons, though it's not made clear if it simply retreated or was destroyed. Two drones are sufficient to destroy a Ha'tak vessel or an Aurora-class battleship when the ships are hit in key areas, which drones automatically detect and aim for, and a few dozen drones tore apart a Hive ship in less than a minute. Though most shields are incapable of blocking a drone, three races possess the technology to defend against them. Drones are ineffective against the Asgard shielding gifted to the Tau'ri, as well as the shielding of the Ancients themselves, though the drones will still cause significant strain. A drone's targeting computer retains information on friend and foe provided by a Control chair. Even if communication with a chair is terminated, a drone, assuming it retains power, is still capable of carrying out its last orders. If a drone is given no targeting information when launched, it will simply seek out the nearest valid target and pursue it until successful or instructed otherwise. Drones have also proven capable of seeking, tracking, and engaging targets of their own accord, dodging weapons fire directed towards them, and dodging any obstacles in their path. It also appears that drones are automatically set to detonate on impact whenever smaller objects, such as a fighters or individuals, are designated as targets. History Prior to 2016, there have been no successful attempts at creating drone weapons, but with the introduction of the Automatic Replicating Device created by Mark Anderson, he has been able to create hundreds of drones, although they aren't nearly as effective. Category:Ancient Technology Category:Ship-based Weapons